It has been well said that the arch-flatterer with whom all the petty flatterers have intelligence is a mans self. Quoted by BaconEssays. X. Of Love. Variation in Essay XXVII. Of Friendship; LIII. Of Praise. From PlutarchDe Adul. et Amico.

Of praise a mere glutton, he swallowd what came,And the puff of a dunce, he mistook it for fame;Till his relish grown callous, almost to displease,Who pepperd the highest was surest to please. GoldsmithRetaliation. L. 109.

On croit quelquefois haïr la flatterie; mais on ne hait que la manière de flatter. We sometimes think that we hate flattery, but we only hate the manner in which it is done. La RochefoucauldMaximes. 329.

Mine eyesWere not in fault, for she was beautiful;Mine ears, that heard her flattery; nor my heart,That thought her like her seeming; it had been viciousTo have mistrusted her.Cymbeline. Act V. Sc. 5. L. 63.

Take no repulse, whatever she doth say;For, get you gone, she doth not mean, away.Flatter and praise, commend, extol their graces;Though neer so black, say they have angels faces.That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 100.

Of folly, vice, disease, men proud we see;And, (stranger still,) of blockheads flattery;Whose praise defames; as if a fool should mean,By spitting on your face, to make it clean. YoungLove of Fame. Satire I. L. 755.